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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVPCMinutes_2009_11_301 Promotions Committee Meeting Minutes – November 30, 2009 City Hall Present: Victoria Blatchford, Rob Peterson, Michael Kendall, Lynn Darnall, Didem Koroglu, Jerry Miller, Catherine Grandorff, Amy Einspahr, Tom Jones, Jeff Weldon, Bridgit Burghardt, Deb Garbers, and Jan Brockel. •Chairperson Blatchford called the meeting to order at 12:17 • October 26 and 27th Minutes: Blatchford mentioned she would like to see names added to the minutes specifically regarding the questions and answers. Darnall motion to approve, Jones seconded. Einspahr questioned the branding update. Question into if the committee will be the brand managers? Blatchford answered the subcommittee, initially yes. We need to discuss who will be the manager, who is the right fit. Motion Carries. • Financials: Burghardt informed the committee CEC funds were used to help promote the Roller Derby held at the Swiftel Center on November 21. Kendall motioned to approve, Jones seconded. Blatchford mentioned there have been some questions regarding how much it will cost for the brand implementation. North Star can give a brand guide, but it comes with a cost of around $25,000. Based on what the committee decides, will need to look at how to move the brand forward. If we want North Star to manage it, it will cost $25,000. Local talent is another option. Weldon questioned if the previous year balance is current balance, or if it is expected at year end. Burghardt responded that the balances are as of today’s balances, however due to the application cycle, we will not see additional applications prior to the end of year. The interest amount will change, and the CEC fund might change if an event comes up. Motion Carries. •Branding Update: Brockel reported North Star showed the task force logos and taglines. The taskforce asked for the logo to be shown in another font. A color palate of nine colors has been approved, and North Star will recommend a main color. The City Attorney will be doing the trademark search. The brand guide would be less about brand managing, vs. how you may use the brand. $25,000 is a close guess, if interested; North Star can come back with a closer number. Regarding the rollout, it will be shown to Jeff, councilors, and leader roundtable. Einspahr questioned who will make the decision regarding the color? The decision will be made by the taskforce. Blatchford added the color palate is vibrant. Weldon questioned what to do with the Imagine and Someplace Special? Brockel responded it will be phased out. We are not expecting to toss everything out right away. Blatchford mentioned the subcommittee will need to get together with the taskforce to review the brand identity guide. Brockel mentioned we are waiting to hear from the taskforce regarding the font. The brand identity guide should be available a couple of weeks after that. We will look at the third week in December for a possible meeting. Koroglu added we are moving along, and will feel more comfortable once we see the color. Regarding having North Star do the brand guide for $25,000, on board with not spending the money on North Star and looking at local talent. Miller questioned if the Promotions Committee will see the logo? Blatchford answered yes. That will be part of the small groups. We will be meeting with the City Council in small groups, and the Leader Roundtable. Einspahr questioned when will meet with full promotions? Blatchford responded when start small groups. • Convention Report: Garbers explained the report the committee received has the events posted in the year the event will be held. The report shows 2009 through 2016. The estimated impact looks strong, with the exception of 2013. Every year should meet or exceed expectations. Blatchford questioned why 2013 looks slower? Is it a year that falls out of the rotations for the state tournaments? Garbers answered it is kind of early for 2013. Blatchford questioned what the process was to ensure all facilities have a chance to bid? Garbers answered there is a standard package that goes out with all of the information for Brookings. If a hotel does not get contacted directly, it is because their information does not impact the decision. The event organizers receive all the information on Brookings. We may call hotel for availability and provide the information to the meeting planner. Einspahr mentioned at the Chamber, there is a strong effort to let the community know about events. How are we informing them? Garbers added we do articles in the newsletter regarding services we provide. Garbers mentioned Prairie Lanes recently came in and wants to do direct marketing to events. Also working with a booking agent, she contacts meeting planners and works with entertainers and speakers. Work with the individual about four to five hours per week. • Process for scheduling events: Burghardt provided the committee with a handout outlining the process for scheduling events. Research all of the events that have taking place in Brookings in previous years. These events are added to the calendar in red. Once an event is confirmed, the event on the calendar changes from red to black. Send out a request for event information in August, and ask for them to be return in September. This timeline coincides with the calendar of events for the State Tourism Office. When a Convention and Tournament is contracted into Brookings, and we receive notification of this contract by the host facility, we proceed as follows: if the date is flexible, we check the calendar of events, and check hotel availability and provide the information to the event organizer. In this situation, we are usually provided a few dates, and the event organizer chooses the date. This depends upon venue space and adequate lodging available. When we are notified of an event date we check the calendar for multiple events. If there are multiple events on the same day, and we anticipating the possibility of a shortage of lodging, we notify all of the event organizers and provide them all with the same information. If there is the possibility for one of the events to change their date, they typically will. An example of this would be November 19-22. There were multiple events taking place that weekend, concerned about hotel availability. The event organizers that were holding events that day are contacted, and informed them of the situation. Due to this, one event was able to change their event date. If the event date is not flexible, inform the event organizer of additional events taking place during the same time, and encourage all organizers to book the 2 number of rooms needed as soon as possible. There are a number of items to consider when picking an event date, and if at all possible, encourage events not to book on the same weekends. Ideally, Brookings would have an event every weekend, and every weekend the hotels would be full. Koroglu questioned how often send out request for events? Suggested it might be worth sending out every three to four months. • Darnall mentioned they attended the Roller Derby at the Swiftel Center, and did not know anyone there. Weldon added the same thing happened to him at the Rodeo; there were a lot of new faces. Jones mentioned both teams here for the Roller Derby stayed at his hotel. Darnall added it was a wonderful event and the proceeds were used as a fundraiser for the Honor Flight. It was a clean sport; they were there to have fun. There was no poor sportsmanship. • Blatchford questioned if anyone has received any calls regarding a sports commission? Promotions is working, as the tax has gone up the last five months. Blatchford added hopefully at the next meeting we have a branding presentation. Discussion into the December meeting, concern there will be a lack of members available to attend. Discussion into moving the meeting to December 21st. Einspahr questioned if that is too soon, as we might not have the information from North Star. January 4 seems to be a better option. Burghardt will send out an email to check to see if we will have quorum if we move the meeting to January 4th. • Weldon questioned how do we get our arms around if there is a shortage of hotel rooms? When does Promotions take a stand? Garbers mentioned the Smith Report. It is not showing saturation, except summer saturation. This is not considered pressure yet. This report is what investors look at. There are a lot of days in the year. We report on activity, not dead time. The report gives an average, and weekends are saturation. We target conventions that book Sun-Tues. Peterson added he was looking for one hotel that could handle a football team. Made some calls to the hotels, there were a couple rooms at one, four at another. Right now, everyone stays in Sioux Falls. Weldon added that is weekends. Kendall mentioned the campus plan and that was one of the questions they asked. Jones added one problem with a football team playing at 6pm, he had a coach come down in the morning and said they would be checking out at 5pm. Blatchford questioned how we fill up Mon-Fri? Garbers answered conventions, tournaments and conventions are our target. • Einspahr motioned to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 1:07p.